Cowl cross member assembly for vehicle

ABSTRACT

A cowl cross member assembly for a vehicle for improving convenience in mounting a steering module and avoiding interference with an audio system in a vehicle, may include a main cowl crossbar disposed at a driver&#39;s seat in a width direction of the vehicle, a sub-cowl crossbar disposed at a passenger&#39;s seat in the width direction of the vehicle, a connection unit disposed between one end of the main cowl crossbar and one end of the sub-cowl crossbar and connecting the main cowl crossbar with the sub-cowl crossbar, a cowl bracket coupled to the main cowl crossbar at one side and coupled to a vehicle body at another side, a steering bracket coupled to a bottom of the cowl bracket and coupled to the steering module, and a steering mounting unit coupled to the main cowl crossbar at one side and coupled to the steering module at another side.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2013-0168646 filed Dec. 31, 2013, the entire contents of which isincorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cowl cross member assembly for avehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cowlcross member assembly for a vehicle which prevents interference with anaudio system in a vehicle, improving convenience in mounting a steeringmodule.

2. Description of Related Art

In general, vehicles are equipped with a steering column fixing asteering wheel and a cowl cross member fixing the steering column to thevehicle bodies.

Since the cowl cross member is fixed directly to a vehicle body,vibration of the vehicle body is fully transmitted to the cowl, and whenthere is no measure for blocking the vibration, the vibration from thevehicle body is transmitted to the steering column.

In this structure, the steering column is fastened to the cowl crossmember with bolts. However, in this case, although the bolts can firmlyfasten the steering column and the cowl cross member, they cannot blockvibration because they are made of metal. Accordingly, vibration from avibration source is transmitted to the steering wheel through the cowlcross member and finally to the steering wheel that a driver holds withhands.

Therefore, a driver who drives a vehicle with hands on the steeringwheel to which vibration is directly transmitted feels vibration fromthe steering wheel while the vehicle is idling or running, and thedriver feels unpleasant.

Most of vibration in vehicles is the vibration of the vehicle body andthe steering system, and when the vibration is transmitted to a driver,the driver feels unpleasant, such that measures for blocking vibrationare used.

To this end, a damper is generally used in steering systems to preventvibration from being transmitted.

However, for the vehicle bodies, unlike the steering systems, vibrationis prevented not by blocking vibration, but by improving the strength ofthe vehicle bodies.

That is, in order to prevent vibration of vehicle bodies from beingtransmitted to a driver in the related art, vibration is fundamentallyreduced not by blocking vibration, but by securing strength of thevehicle bodies.

However, although it is possible to attenuate vibration by increasingstrength of vehicle bodies, the weight of the vehicles increases.

On the other hand, in order to solve the problems, a rubber mount isused in some cases to block vibration transmitted to a steering wheel.

That is, in a configuration of the related art, vibration has beenblocked by fixing a steering column and a cowl cross member with arubber mount made of elastic rubber.

However, when a steering column and a cowl cross member are fixed bysuch a rubber mount, it is possible to prevent vibration of a vehiclebody from being transmitted to the steering column by blocking orattenuating the vibration, but it is difficult to secure strength forthe characteristics of rubber.

The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section isonly for enhancement of understanding of the general background of theinvention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form ofsuggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to aperson skilled in the art.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Various aspects of the present invention are directed providing a cowlcross member assembly for a vehicle having advantages of improvingconvenience in mounting a steering module, preventing distortion, andavoiding interference with an audio system in a vehicle.

According to various aspects of the present invention, a cowl crossmember assembly for a vehicle, which is for improving convenience inmounting a steering module and avoiding interference with an audiosystem in the vehicle may include a main cowl crossbar disposed at adriver's seat in a width direction of a vehicle, a sub-cowl crossbardisposed at a passenger's seat in the width direction of the vehicle, aconnection unit disposed between one end of the main cowl crossbar andone end of the sub-cowl crossbar and connecting the main cowl crossbarwith the sub-cowl crossbar, a cowl bracket coupled to the main cowlcrossbar at one side and coupled to a vehicle body at another side, asteering bracket coupled to the bottom of the cowl bracket and coupledto the steering module, and a steering mounting unit coupled to the maincowl crossbar at one side and coupled to the steering module at anotherside.

The cowl bracket and the steering bracket may be symmetric at both sidesbased on a center of the steering module therebetween.

The main cowl crossbar and the sub-cowl crossbar may be connected andmounted to each other by the connection unit with a step therebetween.

The connection unit may include a connection bracket having a fittinghole in which the sub-cowl crossbar is inserted, and a connection platecoupled to the connection bracket and having an insertion hole in whichthe main cowl crossbar is inserted.

The fitting hole and the insertion hole may be arranged at verticallydifferent positions.

The steering bracket may be inserted inside the bottom of the cowlbracket and welded to the cowl bracket.

The steering mounting unit may include a main steering plate coupled tothe main cowl crossbar and having coupling holes at both sides,sub-steering plates coupled to both sides of the main steering plate andeach sub-steering plate having a mounting hole corresponding to thecoupling holes, reinforcing members inserted in between the mainsteering plate and the sub-steering plates, supporting an inner side ofthe main steering plate and the outer sides of the sub-steering plates,and each reinforcing member having a through-hole corresponding to eachof the coupling and mounting holes, and steering bolts tightened to thesteering module sequentially through the coupling holes, thethrough-holes, and the mounting holes.

The reinforcing members may be formed in a shape of a pipe.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improveconvenience in mounting a steering module, prevent distortion, and avoidinterference with an audio system in a vehicle.

Further, since the cowl bracket is welded at three sides, covering thesteering bracket, the strength in coupling with the steering module canbe improved.

The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other featuresand advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in moredetail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, andthe following Detailed Description, which together serve to explaincertain principles of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an exemplary cowl cross member assemblyfor a vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of portion A of FIG. 1 accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of portion B of FIG. 1 accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 4 is perspective view showing a cowl bracket and a steering bracketcombined, in the exemplary cowl cross member assembly for the vehicleaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 3according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of portion C of FIG. 1 accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 6according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view of FIG. 3 according to the present invention.

It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarilyto scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of variousfeatures illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. Thespecific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein,including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations,and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intendedapplication and use environment.

In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent partsof the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of thepresent invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) willbe described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will beunderstood that the present description is not intended to limit theinvention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, theinvention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplaryembodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalentsand other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

The sizes and thicknesses of the configurations shown in the drawingsare provided selectively for the convenience of description, such thatthe present invention is not limited to those shown in the drawings andthe thicknesses are exaggerated to make some parts and regions clear.

Further, parts that are not related to the description are not drawn tomake exemplary embodiments of the present invention clear.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an exemplary cowl cross member for thevehicle according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a cowl cross member assembly 1 for a vehicleaccording to the present invention has a structure for improvingconvenience in mounting a steering module 3 and avoiding interferencewith an audio system 5 in a vehicle.

To this end, the cowl cross member 10 for a vehicle includes a main cowlcrossbar 10, a sub-cowl crossbar 20, a connection unit 30, a cowlbracket 40, a steering bracket 50, and a steering mounting unit 60.

The main cowl crossbar 10 is disposed at the driver's seat in the widthdirection of a vehicle and the sub-cowl crossbar 20 is disposed at thepassenger's seat in the width direction of the vehicle.

The main cowl crossbar 10 is larger in diameter than the sub-cowlcrossbar 20 and the sub-cowl crossbar 20 is longer than the main cowlcrossbar 10.

The main cowl crossbar 10 and the sub-cowl crossbar 20 are connected bythe connection unit 30 with a step therebetween.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the portion A of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the connection unit 30 is disposed between one endof the main cowl crossbar 10 and the sub-cowl crossbar 20 and connectsthe main cowl crossbar 10 with the sub-cowl crossbar 20.

The connection unit 30 is composed of a connection bracket 31 and aconnection plate 35.

The connection bracket 31 has a fitting hole 33 in which the sub-cowlcrossbar 20 is inserted.

The connection plate 35 is combined with the connection bracket 31 andhas an insertion hole 37 in which the main cowl crossbar 10 is inserted.

The fitting hole 33 and the insertion hole 37 are disposed at verticallydifferent positions.

That is, with the fitting hole 33 and the insertion hole 37 arrangedvertically at different positions, the main cowl crossbar 10 is insertedin the insertion hole 37 and the sub-cowl crossbar 20 is inserted in thefitting hole 33, such that the audio system 5 can be easily mounted inthe vehicle without interfering with the main cowl crossbar 10 and thesub-cowl crossbar 20.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 6, the cowl bracket 40 is connected to the maincowl crossbar 10 at one side and coupled to a vehicle body at the otherside.

The steering bracket 50 is attached under the bottom of the cowl bracket40 and fastened to the steering module 3 by a bolt B and a nut N.

The steering bracket 50 is disposed under the bottom of the cowl bracket40 and welded to the cowl bracket 40.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the cowl bracket 40 covers the outer sideof the steering bracket 50 and the contact sides of the steering bracket50 and the cowl bracket 40 are welded, such that strength in coupling tothe steering module 3 is improved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the cowl bracket 40 and the steeringbracket 50 are symmetric at both sides with the center CTR of thesteering module 3 therebetween and it is for effectively supporting themagainst deformation due to vertical vibration and torque of the steeringmodule 3.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the portion C of FIG. 1 andFIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the steering mounting unit 60 is connectedto the main cowl crossbar 10 at one side and coupled to the steeringmodule 3 at the other side.

The steering mounting unit 60 is composed of a main steering plate 61,sub-steering plates 63, reinforcing members 65, and steering bolts 67.

The main steering plate 61 is bonded to the main cowl crossbar 10 andhas coupling holes 62 at both sides.

The sub-steering plates 63 are bonded to both sides of the main steeringplate 61 and each have mounting holes 64 corresponding to the couplingholes 62.

The main steering plate 61 and the sub-steering plates 63 are, as shownin FIG. 7, bonded with a predetermined distance therebetween, becausethe steering module 3 deforms by moving up/down when a vehicle is inmotion. Accordingly, the main steering plate 61 and the sub-steeringplates 63 are bonded with a gap therebetween to prevent the steeringmodule 3 from deforming up/down and left/right.

The reinforcing members 65 are inserted in between the steering plate 61and the sub-steering plates 63, support the inner side of the mainsteering plate 61 and the outer sides of the sub-steering plates 63,have through-holes 66 corresponding to the coupling holes 62 and themounting holes 64, and are formed in the shape of a pipe.

That is, the reinforcing members 65 are disposed in the space betweenthe main steering plate 61 and the sub-steering plates 63 in order toprevent the steering module 3 from deforming up/down and left/right whena vehicle is in motion.

The steering bolts 67 are tightened to the steering module 3sequentially through the coupling holes 62, the through-holes 66, andthe mounting holes 64.

Accordingly, a cowl cross member assembly 1 for a vehicle according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention can improve conveniencein mounting the steering module 3, prevent distortion, and avoidinterference with the audio system 5 in a vehicle.

Further, since the cowl bracket 40 is welded at three sides, coveringthe steering bracket 50, the strength in coupling with the steeringmodule 3 can be improved.

For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appendedclaims, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “inner” and “outer” are used todescribe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to thepositions of such features as displayed in the figures.

The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in orderto explain certain principles of the invention and their practicalapplication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make andutilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as wellas various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended thatthe scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto andtheir equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cowl cross member assembly for a vehicle whichimproves convenience in mounting a steering module and avoidsinterference with an audio system in a vehicle, the cowl cross memberassembly comprising: a main cowl crossbar disposed at a driver's seat ina width direction of the vehicle; a sub-cowl crossbar disposed at apassenger's seat in the width direction of the vehicle; a connectionunit disposed between one end of the main cowl crossbar and one end ofthe sub-cowl crossbar and connecting the main cowl crossbar with thesub-cowl crossbar; a cowl bracket coupled to the main cowl crossbar atone side and coupled to a vehicle body at another side; a steeringbracket coupled to a bottom of the cowl bracket and coupled to thesteering module; and a steering mounting unit coupled to the main cowlcrossbar at one side and coupled to the steering module at another side.2. The cowl cross member assembly of claim 1, wherein the cowl bracketand the steering bracket are symmetric at both sides based on a centerof the steering module.
 3. The cowl cross member assembly of claim 1,wherein the main cowl crossbar and the sub-cowl crossbar are connectedand mounted to each other by the connection unit with a steptherebetween.
 4. The cowl cross member assembly of claim 1, wherein theconnection unit includes: a connection bracket having a fitting hole inwhich the sub-cowl crossbar is inserted; and a connection plate coupledto the connection bracket and having an insertion hole in which the maincowl crossbar is inserted.
 5. The cowl cross member assembly of claim 4,wherein the fitting hole and the insertion hole are arranged atvertically different positions.
 6. The cowl cross member assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the steering bracket is inserted inside the bottom ofthe cowl bracket and welded to the cowl bracket.
 7. The cowl crossmember assembly of claim 1, wherein the steering mounting unit includes:a main steering plate coupled to the main cowl crossbar and havingcoupling holes at both sides; sub-steering plates coupled to both sidesof the main steering plate and each sub-steering plate having a mountinghole corresponding to the coupling holes; reinforcing members insertedin between the main steering plate and the sub-steering plates,supporting an inner side of the main steering plate and outer sides ofthe sub-steering plates, and each reinforcing member having athrough-hole corresponding to each of the coupling and the mountingholes; and steering bolts tightened to the steering module sequentiallythrough the coupling holes, the through-holes, and the mounting holes.8. The cowl cross member assembly of claim 7, wherein the reinforcingmembers are formed in a shape of a pipe.